Davis turns 5

Never has there been a child more excited to turn 5! Davis’s birthday comes at the end of birthday season in our house, all four kids and Ben in 2 months. The last few years he’s had a hard time watching everyone else get a birthday. This year he was much more patient and mature about it, but was extremely excited when his own special day came!

We started with presents and muffins for breakfast. We gave him a black panther costume, which he wore for the rest of the day. We played with his little friends at the park and I brought some super-hero themed cupcakes there. Davis is the best “park” kid- he just really goes for it, running and climbing and sliding everywhere! Later that night we had our neighbors, Will and Fred, over for pizza and movie and cupcakes. Their mom had surgery, so it was kind of to give her a break, but was perfect for Davis’s birthday since he loves Will so much!

At five years old there is just so much to love about this boy!

• He’s starting to read! He’s been so good about doing Upstart, and words are starting to come together for him!
• He refuses to try to write anything. No interest whatsoever. 
• He loves preschool- our little co-op. He’s the the only boy and he calls the other kids “my preschool girls”
• Avenger-obsessed. Every day he’s playing some type of superhero thing and always picks an avengers movie when he gets to choose for movie night.
• His favorite foods are pizza and pickles. He asks for a pickle sandwich for lunch most days, which I’m sorry to say is just pickles on bread. And he declares “I LOVE pickles!” And he’s still sad every night that I don’t make pizza for dinner.
• Davis loves a park more than any kid I’ve ever known- he runs and runs and climbs and runs some more! It’s darling to watch!
• He’s so sweet and affectionate- he gives the best hugs and tells me he loves me every day.

Some funny things he’s said lately:

• Seeing my throwing up when I got the flu “Uh-oh mom! What happened? I guess it was the germs!”
• He has an imaginary friend, Karen, who is a boy. He will blame things on Karen frequently. (Karen is the name of the software in Spider-Man who makes the suit work).
• He asked Ben about his full name
• Ben: It’s Benjamin Carl Hugo
• Davis: But, you didn’t say daddy!
• Ben: Yeah, only you, Chase, Hudson and Lila call me daddy.
• Davis: Oh yeah…my friends call you Ben…
• He was distraught one day when he realized Ben had gone to the dump without him. We called Ben to talk to him on the phone who promised to bring home some chocolate to soothe Davis’s hurt feelings. Davis felt slightly better but then responded “Dad! Will you please just come home and take me to Mexico!” He continued to talk about going to Mexico with his dad for the rest of the day. I had no idea he even knew about Mexico!
• One night he was so tired but wouldn’t just close his eyes to go to sleep. I told him to close his eyes and he said “No! Then I’ll be gone!” Explains why he fights sleep so much!

 

February

 

February started off with a bang with our big Disney trip! The rest of the month was a little slower, but not by much! As soon as we got home I had one week to prepare for a holiday (Valentines) and two birthdays (Ben and Lila’s) all before I left town again 10 days later. It was wild! And so fun!

Somehow a lot of Valentine’s prep got forgotten. In fact, we got home from our Super Bowl party the night before the 14th and realized the kids hadn’t even addressed their Valentine’s yet! Ah! So late that night we hurried and got them done. We ran out of time to make cool valentine’s boxes, but I convinced the boys that it would be super funny to take their Halloween Jack-O-Lanterns to use- and thankfully they were on board! So our actual Valentine’s was more chill. I had a cute breakfast for them complete with little gifts at breakfast. They all got a new shirt, that they were all thrilled with (Lila’s was a dress that she immediately put on). It was nice to have a fun little festive moment before school!

After school it was the craziness of piano lessons and karate, with a super quick dinner. We even postponed our traditional chocolate fondue until the next night since Papa had dropped off donuts. They had a great day. I love all these guys so much! (Their dad too!)

The littles helped me deliver stuff for Relief Society on some of our nicer weather days. I laughed at how perfectly they are dressed. Lila is in a tutu dress, has 3 bows in her hair, a purse, a necklace and glitter shoes. All of these were her choices. And Davis is dressed as Spider-Man per usual.

Right after Ben’s birthday I took off for my girls trip to Charleston, South Carolina! It was so fun! I love this tradition so much, especially that I got to attend this year after missing the last one due to being too pregnant to go (I had Lila about 30 hours after they got home). This time it was our turn to plan, Heidi did most of the work and it was absolutely perfect! Charleston is so charming and was a great place to hang out together!

We did a lot of exploring the city and enjoying the beautiful architecture. We had amazing food and did a little shopping. We explored little art galleries and breathed in the sea air. We spent one afternoon at the beach and even though it was cold and breezy it was amazing to be at the beach!

Mostly we loved hanging with all our cousins and each other! We stayed up late every night talking and laughing. Heidi and I put together a “little known fact” game for us all to play one night. It was hilarious! Everyone submitted something and almost no one got them right! I think Kelly won with 7 correct guesses (our of 28!). I think we all learned fun things about each other!

One really cool story from the last night of our trip- last fall Aunt Karen got a check from a life insurance policy grandpa had taken out for grandma back in 1951 for 2 grand. It was weird and crazy since she’s been gone for 30 years. They decided to use the money for a nice, fancy dinner together on the trip. So Heidi researched and planned and found the best restaurant to host us. They had a private room for us, a special menu printed, white table clothes and three forks and spoons- all that jazz. We got there a little early to make sure everything was set up correctly and I was telling Kate the story about the life insurance and how “dinner was on grandma!” And right then the song, “Georgia on my mind” came on. Once we realized that was the song, all our eyes filled with tears. I just know it was Grandma saying HI! I think it was her little way from the other side to send us some love and let us know she was there too. I still get chills when I think about it. She’s gone, but not really. And I love that our family has stayed so close and we’ve formed all these great relationships with our cousins. I think she’d love that. 

Anyway, I made it back home and was so happy to see my kids and Ben! I missed them! Ben held down the fort beautifully and even installed can lighting in our family room while I was gone! He even managed to get Lila’s hair in pigtails a few times. 

Davis is so nice to Lila. Most days her favorite game is “I want was Davis has”. He’s been sweet to share his costumes with her. I love how well rounded she is, she’s super girly and loves pretty things, and also loves a good superhero costume and playing with cars.

Lila is 2!

 

This beautiful girl is two! I look at her every single day and just marvel that she's here and she's mine. I'm so thankful for her! I think she's the most gorgeous little girl, but nothing really matches her inner sweetness and spunk and adorable-ness. She is just the best!

She's talking so much these days! She can say so much, but still says the word "sit" as "unts". Still not sure why, but she demands we "unts" all the time. Lately, she also demands a "lat" meaning lap, at most meals and prefers to eat on my lap or Ben's. 

She mothers her little babies and stuffed animals. She won't leave the house without a purse. She is way into shoes and "pretties" (jewelry). She takes care of her big brothers. When Davis is sad, she'll run and grab Bei Bei. She frequently grabs a napkin at dinner to wipe the messy food off her brother's faces. She doesn't like her hands to be messy and insists on washing them, with soap, all the time.

One of the cutest things is the way she says "uh-huh" while firmly nodding her little head and "yesh" for yes. If I don't understand something she's saying she'll just keep repeating it louder and louder until I figure it out or we both give up. If I try to pretend I do know what she's talking about she never buys it. She keeps trying!

We did a double birthday party for Ben and Lila on Ben's birthday (the 16th) since I was leaving town the next day and would be missing Lila's birthday- and she had no clue anyway. It was pretty fitting to share a party together because Ben is so entranced by his little girl. He already loves taking her shopping and can't tell her no. He always dolls her up before leaving the house with her. He'll lay on the floor by her crib so she can hold his hand through the bars while she falls asleep. 

We had both sets of grandparents over for Coconut Curry Soup (Ben's fav) and Carrot Cake (also Ben's pick, but Lila didn't complain!). Then they opened presents. Not surprisingly, Lila stole the show and we all loved watching her open her presents. When she opens something to wear she had to immediately try it on. She loved all her minnie themed presents and girly stuff. Oh, we all just adore this sweet girl!